If you look up the term “cognitive dissonance,” one of the de;nitions is roughly “Inconsistency between
expectations and reality,” but future
dictionaries may add a photo of the
Mando Footloose IM as an illustration.
Expectation in this case is understandable. For starters, the Mando is visually
really something to behold. And as you
start adding up the visual cues—the
battery, electric motor, display, two
wheels, a bicycle seat, handlebar and a
pair of pedals—you easily come away
with the conclusion that this is an elegant, artistic, ultra-modern electric bicycle. Or not.

“Normally, a 250- watt drive is pretty tame, but combined with
20-inch wheels, it makes
the response and power
interesting.” Expectation and reality collide when you pedal it. Pedal easy and it takes off like a normal e-bike. Pedal hard and it
takes off like a normal e-bike. Your pedaling makes no difference to the speed
of the Footloose. The pedals attach to
an alternator, so pedaling charges the
battery so you can ride longer but not
faster.

The reality is just ;ne after you begin
evaluating the Mando Footloose IM as
an “urban mobility device” rather than
an electric bicycle. After all, the Mando
doesn’t meet all the technical de;nitions of an electric bicycle. In case you
were wondering, “IM” stands for “Iconic
Mobility.”

MOTORIZED

While the Mando has all the appearance of something you’d expect to ;nd